Lake Region State College hires new Head Men’s coach

He’s enthusiastic, he’s ready and he’s coming to Devils Lake to be the new head men’s basketball coach at Lake Region State College.

He’s enthusiastic, he’s ready and he’s coming to Devils Lake to be the new head men’s basketball coach at Lake Region State College.

“This is a dream come true,” Joe Kittell said. “I have always dreamed of being a head coach one day and I dreamt of coming back home to North Dakota, too, now both my dreams are coming true.”

“I want to thank Dr. Darling, Coach Schwab, and the rest of the committee for having faith in me. I can’t wait to get started!”

Kittell has spent the last three seasons with Gillette College and has ten overall years experience in a college basketball program. During his three seasons at Gillette College has posted a 58-33 (64 percent) overall record. In all ten season Kittell has never been a part of a program with a losing record.

Kittell joined the Pronghorns after spending one year at Colorado State University (CSU) as the Video Coordinator. At CSU the Rams finished the season 17-17, finished fifth in the Mountain West Conference, and received a berth to the College Basketball Invitational Tournament.

A 2002 graduate of Garrison (N.D.) High School, Kittell earned a bachelor's degree in Physical Education K-12 in 2006 and master's degree in Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Science in 2008, both at North Dakota State University (NDSU) in Fargo, ND. Kittell worked with Tim Miles, now the Head Coach at the University of Nebraska, at NDSU for four seasons (2002-2006) while pursuing his bachelor's degree. During his time in Fargo, the Bison recorded four straight winning seasons, and in 2004 made the transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I.

In 2006 Kittell worked at Mayville State University. During his time the Comets went 27-9, won the Dakota Athletic Conference regulars season and conference tournament championships, and made the NAIA Division II national championship game. In 2007-08 he was the assistant men's basketball coach at North Dakota State College of Science an NJCAA Division I program. The team went 25-6 and won the Mon-Dak Conference tournament.

In 2008-09 Kittell worked as an assistant boys’ basketball coach at Breckenridge (Minn.) High School and was director and coach for Every Child's Important (ECI) Youth Services, a non-profit organization that runs summer traveling basketball teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. Joe went on to become the owner, director, and coach for ECI Basketball from 2010 to the fall of 2012 before resigning. During his time with ECI Basketball the program help produce over a hundred national and regional college athletes including 10 NCAA Division I basketball players.